Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel

Landgravine Elisabeth Henriëtte von Hessen-Kassel (18 November 1661 – 7 July 1683) was the daughter of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg (1623–1683) and electoral princess of Brandenburg through her marriage to Frederick I of Prussia.[1]

Elisabeth Henriëtte of Hesse-Kassel
Electoral Princess of Brandenburg
Hereditary Princess of Prussia
Born(1661-11-18)18 November 1661
Kassel, Germany
Died7 July 1683(1683-07-07) (aged 21)
Cölln, Germany
Spouse
IssueLuise, Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel
HouseHesse-Kassel
FatherWilliam VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
MotherHedwig Sophia of Brandenburg
ReligionCalvinism

Biography edit

Elisabeth Henriëtte was born in Kassel, Germany on 18 November 1661 to William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.[1] She was the youngest of seven; siblings included Queen Charlotte Amalie, William VII, Luise, Charles I, Philip, and George.[2] She suffered from an unknown illness in 1677 that her mother treated with the milk cure, wherein a teenage Elisabeth suckled from a wet nurse for three weeks and eventually recovered.[3] Years later, on 13 August 1679, she married her cousin, Frederick, Prince Elector of Brandenburg, in Potsdam[1] after his plan to marry a sister of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I fell through.[citation needed] They held court in Köpenick Palace in a district of Berlin.[1] On 29 September 1680, Luise Dorothea Sophie, the couple's only child, was born.[1] Luise Dorothea later married Frederick I of Sweden, her first cousin, and became the electoral princess of Hesse-Kassel before dying in childbirth in 1705 at age 25.[4][5]

Elisabeth Henriëtte died on 7 July 1683 at age 21 from smallpox.[1][6] Frederick accused his stepmother Dorothea of poisoning her but this was found to be untrue via investigation.[1] She is buried at Berlin Cathedral with Frederick and his second wife Sophia Charlotte.[7]

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Elisabeth Henriette von Hessen-Kassel" (in German). Preussen Chronik. n.d. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  2. ^ Mehl, Scott (2019). "Eliabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel, Electoral Princess of Bradenburg". Unofficial Royalty. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  3. ^ Sperling, Jutta Gisela. Roman Charity: Queer Lactations in Early Modern Visual Culture. p. 275.
  4. ^ Flatzner, Susan (2021). "Swedish Royal Burial Sites: House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (1654-1720) and House of Hesse (1720-1751)". Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  5. ^ Matthews, Crawford Antony Roxburgh (2019). Anglo-Prussian Relations and the Reciprocal Production of Status: Ceremonial and Diplomacy between London and Berlin, 1701- 1714 (PhD). University of Hull.
  6. ^ Noack, Lothar; Splett, Jürgen. Berlin-Cölln 1688–1713. p. 541.
  7. ^ "BURIAL PLACES OF BRANDENBURG AND PRUSSIAN SOVEREIGNS". royaltombs.dk. n.d. Retrieved 2022-01-29.